Sinter-machine drive mechanism



ASQZ E R, L. LLOYD SINTER MACHINE DRIVE MECHANISM Original Filed 0011- 28. 1919 5 Sheets-Sheet l @et 2 NT2 R. L.. LLQYD l SINTER MACHINE DRIVE MECHANISM Original Filed Oct. 28, 1919 `3 .Sheets-Sheet 2 cie Z 1923.

R. l.. LLQYD SINTER MACHINE DRIVE MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed Oct. 28, 1919 .inw

1 Patented ct. 2, 1923.

i' 'i Y l l l RICHARD L. LLOYD, 0F NEW YORK, NKY., ASSIGNOR TO DWIGHT & LLOYD SINTERING COMPANY, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION 0F DELAWARE.

SINTR-MACHINE DRIVE MECHANISH.

Application led October 28, 1919, serial lo. 333,973. Renewed Februar-51723, 1923.

T o all whom may conce/rn.'

Be it known that I, RICHARD L. LLoYD, citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sinter Machine Drive Mechanism, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

rlhe invention presented in this case relates to apparatus for roasting and sintering ores, and has for its object to improve machines of the type illustrated in Patent 1,027,084, of May 21, 1912.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure l is a top plan view of a complete apparatus embodying the improvements of this case.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same machine.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line lll- Hl of Fig. 2 and drawn on a much larger scale than is said view.

Figure 4 isa broken, top plan view of the apparatus, in the vicinity of the large idler wheel near the discharge end oi the machine, on a much larger scale than Figs. 1 and 2.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the parts illustrated in Fig. 4i.

The general features of a machine such as illustrated herein comprise a series of receptacles for the material to be treated,-in the present instance ass limed to be ore carrying a combustible content,-each entirely sepa rate from the other, but arranged to abut end to end to constitute a train, and form a substantially continuous conveyor, that is moved slowly along a `working run, and iinally returned to be again used. rl`he receptacles are successively iilled with ore, the

combustible` content of which is ignited, and then air is caused to pass through the body of material to cause the combustible content to be burned, in order to roast and sinter or otherwise advantageously treat the ore, as the carriers move slowly along the working run. v As they thus travel they lpass in proximity to mechanism for inducing the rapid passage of air through the mass being treated to cause active combustion therein, air boxes being represented inthe drawings as typical of the air moving apparatus.

Apparatus of the kind to which the invention belongs is usually of considerable length, as compared with its wdth,.and is represented in the accompanying drawings as belng supported in a framework designated 2. 3, 3 indicate the ore carriers. .These consist preferably of small individual cars or pallets, formed with suitable perforate bottoms, such as the grates 21, and provided with supporting wheels 20. Carriers for roasting and sintering machines of this character are now well known in the art and need not therefore be specifically described in this case. In the u per part of the frame 2 are tracks 4 upon wliich the pallets 3 are supported during the working run of their travel, and 5 indicate tracks in the lower part of the frame on which the pallets are supported during their return run.

The pallets are caused to slowly travel in the directions indicated by the arrows on the drawings, by means of a pair of large driving sprocket wheels 7, `located at the head end of the machine and turned at the requisite speed through speed reducing gearing 8. As these features are now well known in the art and may be widely varied they are not herein specifically illustrated.' The portion of the framework 2 in which are supported the large driving sprocket wheels 7, their supporting shaft and its bearings, is suitably strengthened as indicated at 9. The speed-reducing gearing 8 is mounted in a supplemental frame 22 at the side of the main framework 2, and is preferably rigidly united therewith. The driving wheels 7 are of a diameter approximating the vertical distance between the tracks 4:. and 5, and they operate to pick up' the pallets at the forward end of their lower run and elevate them to the tracks of the upper run and to push them as a train along the working run. The pallets are held in engagement with the driving sprocket wheels 7, as they are moved from the lower to the upper run and preferably until they have been filled with material to be treated, by guide rails 23, which throughout a portion of their course ar'e concentric with the wheels 7.

Near the delivery end of the, apparatus there is located anothertpair of large idler sprocket wheels 10, supported upon the shaft 24. The wheels 10 are preferably of the saine diameter as the driving sprocket lwheels 7, and they engage, at diametrically opposite 'parts of their peripheries, respectively with the pallets on the upper and on the lower runs, as they pass such wheels. rllhe shaft 2d on which the idler sprocket wheels are supported is mountednn movable bearings 11,-adapted to slide, to alimited extent, along ways 12, mounted 1n suitably strengthened portions 25 of the framework. Stid coiled springs 13 act upon the bearings 11, forcingthem toward the head end ot the apparatus, that is toward the end in which are mounted the driving wheels 7. As clearly appears in lig. 5 thesprockets 26 of the idler wheels engage with suitable projections carried by the pallets 3, and the action of the springs 13 is therefore to force the pallets close `tagether end to end incontinuous series between the wheels 7 and 10 along both the working and the return runs of the pallets. The wheels 10 are thus driven from the main driving wheels 7, through the upper train of pallets, and such idler wheels 10 in turn operate to positively drive the pallets along the lower return run between the wheels l0 and 7. rl`he wheels 10 are idle relatively to the pallets as they move along the nal stretch of the upper or working run and until alter they have discharged their contents.

rll`he 'framework 2 is formed with an extension 141 beyond the sprocket wheels 10, that is beyond the delivery end of the apparatus, in which extension are supported curved uide ways 15, arranged to direct the pallets rom the upper to the lower runs of the apparatus. rThe pallets as they reachv the curving guide ways 15 are turned and linally inverted, discharging their contents, as is usual in apparatus of the kind being described. 'llhe general course of the guides 15, from Ayvhere the upper tracks 4 terminate to -where the lower tracks `5 begin and the pallets are engaged by the lower portions of .the wheels 10, 1s downward, so that they move durin this part of their course of travel large y, if not entirely, under the 1nlluence of gravity. It will be understoodv combustion, thus started, is carried progressively through the material, the timing of the movements and operations of the appa'- ratus being such Vthat shortly before a pallet reaches the extension 14: and is about to be:

Maasai have been roasted and sint/ered or otherwise adected in the desired manner. lin order that the combustion shall be sumcientlfy rapid and intense means are provided for forcing the combustion supporting gas, which ordinarily is only atmospheric air, through atmosphere accordingly as the apparatus worhs on the suction or the plenum system. lt will be understood thatordinarily both couplings 18 will not be used at the same time, and that the one not in use will be closed by a suitable stopper.

ln Fig. 2 there` is conventional illustrations of a fan and air ducts 41, 42'adapted to be connected with the couplings18 on one side of the apparatus. This may be duplicated for the couplings on the other side or a single fan may be suitably connected to both sides.

The upper ends of the walls of the air boxes 17 are tted to aligned frames 27, see Fig. 3. 'These frames are preferably formed of cast iron and rest upon ll-beams 28, or other suitable longitudinal supports. The upper outer edgesot the 4frames 27 are rabbeted as indicated at 29, and into these rabbets are set sealing strips 30,`the outer vertical faces of which engage with downwardly extending flange walls 31 of the pallets. As

is well understood, in using apparatus of thekind being described it is important for its successful Working that there should be practically air-tight connection between the ore carriers and the air boxes during the time that air is being caused to pass through the mass of ore under treatment to maintain combustion therein. Heretofore one of the' common means for securing this has been to form the air boxes with upper edges lying in a common plane upon which rest, in supposedly air-tight relationship, the pallets as they pass over the air boxes. There are objections to this arrangement, and the one shown in Fig. 3 is a decided improvement. Here the air sealing strips, which are stationary and carried by the frame 27 of the air box, engage laterally with the moving pallets. ln this arrangement broad surfaces can be easily maintained in engagement, and at the same time wear is reduced by reason of the fact that the engaging surfaces of the air sealing parts are not under pressure incident to their having to support heavy moving parts, as in the prior arrangements.

above referred to.

As more or less material will sift through lll@ the grates or pervious bottoms of the pallets into the air boxes 17 provision is made for cleaning out the latter. They are provided with cleaning openings in their lower portions and these are closed by doors 19.

That part of the lower pathway of the pallets which is between the two large sprocket wheels, is substantially parallel to the upper pathway. Heretofore the return elements of the orbit of the pallets has been inclined from the discharge end to the sprocket Wheel 7, as gravity has been depended on to bring them back to the transverse lanes where they are lifted andloaded. ut l have found it very important to elongate the pathway over which the loaded pallets move, when 1n operation. And tlns so relatively reduced the inclination of the return track the proper return could not be` attained and, again, the inverted empty pallets along the inclined section were more or less uncertain, some moving slowly, others more rapidi with resulting blows or impacts of palet upon pallet which are very undesirable.

By reorganizing the guidewayand the supports for the pallets in the way herein shown It am able to reduce the vertical dimensions of the apparatus so that it can be erected in places where it would be prol hibited if the parts were arranged upon the earlier plan which required for the lower run a long incline extending down to a point many feet below the top run. llnstead of gravity l now have positive propelling power imparted by the sprocket wheels 10. And, consequently the pallets can be returned on relatively high lines, and lifting wheels at 7 can be employed of relatively short diameters. Beyond the presence of the wheels 10 there is no increase in the parts or any complicated arrangement, as Apower is readily secured directly from the pallets of the upper run.

These pallets being loose or disconnected, each from its neighbors, both those on the upper run, and those on the lower, there tend to be constant variations in the pitch distances between them. But this is compensated, and provided for, by the yielding mounting of the wheel 10 and by the springs which tend to move the wheels toward the receiving end of the machine. rl`hese wheels, therefore, immediately respond to any variations in the pitch distances of the pallets.

The track wheels 20 of the pallets are mounted on outward extending spindles or stud shafts 36. 0n each of these shafts or spindles there is loosely mounted a roller 37 positioned between the track wheel and the pallet. These rollers are in the longitudinal vertical planes of the sprocket teeth 26 of the Awheels 10, the planes ofrotation of the wheels being inside of the vertical planes of the track rails 4 and inside of the flanges forward roller of the next pallet engages i with the second tooth of the same pair, the wheel 10 receiving power from both of the pallets thru the respective roller 37, when the parts are in normal relation. On the lower run the forward tooth of a pair engages with the rear roller 37 of a pallet and the rear tooth ofthe same pair engages the front roller 37 of lthe next pallet and thus the wheels 10 are caused to so act that the outgoing pallets and those that are returning move synchronously.

l claim:

1. lin an ore sintering or treating mechanism, the combination with a series of pallets, of a guide therefor along which they move in one direction, a second guide along which they move in the opposite direction,

and a power transmitting device for moving them along the said second guide and actuated by the pallets while they are moving along the first guide.

2. lin an ore sintering or treating mechanism, the combination with a series of pallets, of a guide along which the pallets aremovable in one direction, a second guide 'along which they are movable in the opposite direction. means engaging with the pallets and moving them positively along the first guide and means actuated by the means aforesaid and engaging with the pallets on the second guide to move them therealong.

3. In an ore sinteringor treating mechanism, the combination with a series of pallets` of a guide therefor along which the pallets move in one direction, a second guide along which they are movable in the opposite direction. a power device engaging positively with the pallets for propelling them along the first guide, and power transmitting devices actuated by the aforesaid power device and engaging positively with the pallets on the second guide and moving them therealong.

4. ln an ore sintering or treating-mechanism, the combination with a series of pallets. of a. l`guide t-hereforextending from a .loading point to a discharging point, a second guide approximately parallel to the first tot* met

guide, power devices for moving the pallets to the first guide and'propelling them therealong. and power transmitting devices actuated by the pallets while they are on the first guide and propelling the pallets on the second guide toward the loading point.

5. lin an ore sintering or treating mechanism, the combination with a series of pallets` of a guide therefor along which the pallets move in one direction, a second guide y. lets, of n guide therefor alone1 which they move in one direction, e seeond guide ellong 11@ which they move in the opposite direction,

Menem e third guide @tong which they move from the rst guide to the second, power -trensmitting devices eetuetedl by the patiets White 1 they are moving along the rst guide, end adopted to propel them white they ere moving along the second guide.

En testimony whereof, l nmz my signe,- ture.

RICHARD L. LLYD. 

